1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retractable flag hand held units and more particularly pertains to a new retractable flag band held unit for permitting a user to selectively deploy a hand held flag to signal another.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of retractable flag hand held units is known in the prior art. More specifically, retractable flag hand held units heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,623; U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,726; U.S. Pat. No. 2,452,842; U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,115; U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,869; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 271,190.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new retractable flag hand held unit. The inventive device includes a tubular housing with an opening therein at a distal end. A proximal end of an elongate rod is extended into the housing through the opening of the distal end of the housing. A back plate is disposed in the housing and coupled to the proximal end of the rod. The housing has a longitudinal slot in a side wall of the housing. A slide plate is disposed in the housing adjacent the longitudinal slot and is coupled to the back plate. A thumb slide has a slide extent extending through the longitudinal slot of the housing into the housing and which is coupled to the slide plate. A flag is coupled to the rod adjacent a distal end of the rod. The rod has a spaced apart plurality of constrictions adjacent the distal end of the rod. The rod comprises a resiliently flexible material so that the rod may be resiliently folded at each of the constrictions.
In these respects, the retractable flag hand held unit according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of permitting a user to selectively deploy a hand held flag to signal another.